A/N: So here's a fun chapter for you all, with promises of more in a week or so. If you haven't already, please read the author's note that preceded this chapter. I'll be able to check my email throughout the week, so I'll know if folks review. And thank you to everyone who has reviewed or sent messages so far - you're all amazing and I'm thrilled to have readers like you! :)
"Ooh!" Cat squealed as she caught sight of the big, fluffy beds in the hotel room. Dropping her suitcase in the doorway, she practically sprinted across the room and dove into one, disappearing into the pile of pillows and comforters.
"Wow," Tori said from the doorway.
"It's so comfy!" Cat's voice came from somewhere in the middle of the bed. Her head popped up like a prairie dog performing surveillance, the bright red accentuating the all-white bedding. "I feel like rolling around and making a snow angel!"
"A bed angel," Jade corrected, stepping over Cat's suitcase.
"Whatever," Cat agreed happily.
Their room was adjacent to the one shared by the West parents, and across the hall from the room that would be shared by the three boys and one puppet. Annie had already been into the room already, setting up Evie's machinery and putting some of the bigger pieces of luggage away.
"Who's first for the shower?" Annie asked now, appearing in the doorway between the two rooms.
"I think I'm just gonna sleep like this," Cat replied, which wasn't really a reply at all. She rolled herself around in the covers. "Mmmm!"
"Cat, where am I supposed to sleep?" Tori wanted to know, pulling her suitcase into the room.
"Oh," came Cat's muffled voice.
"Although truthfully, that pull-out couch looks bigger than our bed in the RV," Tori mused.
"Nobody's sleeping on the pull-out couch," Annie said.
"No, of course not," Cat agreed, appearing from the middle of the bed.
"I'll take the first shower," Evie said, since no one else had responded to Annie's question.
"Let Jadey have the first shower," Annie suggested, "and we'll do your treatment first."
"Oh, Mom, really?" Evie said with a hint of a pout.
"We might be in Disney World, but we're still just ordinary mortals," Annie said. "Shower, Jadey."
"Sure, Mom."
There was a rap at the still-open room door, and a dark-haired woman in a bright blue dress stuck her head in. "Hi there!" she said. "You must be Evelyn and friends."
"It's Evie," Evie said, detaching herself from her ventilator and shutting off the alarms.
"Pleased to meet you," the woman said, striding across the room to shake her hand. "I'm Larissa Byler. I work for the Grant a Dream Foundation. We just wanted to get you your welcome basket."
From the hallway she produced a large basket filled with movie-theater-style boxes of candy, some juices, and a gold embossed envelope. "In there you've got your passes for Disney World and the special passes for Universal Studios. When you enter the parks, someone will be there to greet you. And in the envelope there's a special button for you to wear, Evie. It lets everybody know you're somebody special!"
To Annie, she said, "There's a card in there with my number as well. If you folks need anything while you're here, just give us a call. We'll be more than happy to do whatever we can."
"Thank you," Annie said.
"Have a wonderful visit," Larissa said, and then, giving everyone else a smile, disappeared down the hallway.
After she left the room was a bit more subdued and relaxed. Cat was coaxed out of the bed by the promise of candy, and Tori went over to straighten the bedcovers. Jade took her shower kit into the bathroom, and Evie and Annie started the night's treatment.
The pounding of water in the shower was luxurious and hot, but it wasn't enough to block out all the signs of the evening's CF-based torture. Over the hot water's spray, Jade could hear Evie coughing, coughing, always coughing, with gaspy breaths in between – not enough to sustain her, but enough to give her strength for the next round of coughs.
It was definitely true what Annie had said – magical world or not, CF still had a hold on them, and it would, no matter where they went – a barbecue restaurant in Texas or a magical castle populated by wizards, witches, and fantastic creatures.
Some things were just impossible to get away from.
Later that night, when all four girls were showered and in fresh pajamas, bedded down in their luxurious covers with their heads on plump, fluffy pillows, Jade realized she was the only one still awake. Next to her Evie slept the sleep of the medicated and exhausted, breathing when the ventilator told her to, hooked up to the IV pump and her feeding pump. In the other bed Cat was curled around one of the big fluffy pillow, a small smile on her face that Jade could just make out by the muted light of the lamp in the far corner of the room. Tori curled in the other direction, her breaths like light humming.
From atop the bureau, Evie's newly-purchased stuffed alien friend gave Jade a knowing look.
"We're in this together," she informed it in a whisper.
It didn't reply, which was good. Sure, Disney World was supposed to be magical, but there was a fine line to walk between magical and hallucination.
With a smile on her face, Jade pulled up the covers and fell asleep.
In the morning, there was a tray of breakfast foods and two carafes of juice and water on the coffee table at the other end of the suite. And next to the tray were four rolled-up red bundles.
"Ooh, presents!" Cat squealed as she leapt out of bed. "And doughnuts!"
Tori and Jade got out of bed, yawning and pulling their hair back. Cat had hurried over to the table and was examining the presents. "They've got our names on them!" she said, and handed one to Tori and Jade. Jade took the last rolled bundle over to Evie, who sat up in bed, readjusting the tubing attaching her to her ventilator.
Tori finished pulling up her hair and undid the stretchy band around her package. "It's a T-shirt," she said as she shook it out. "Aww, look at it!"
The T-shirt she was holding was bright red, with white printing on the front and the back. On the front was a stylized logo, reading "Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 BC. Diagon Alley." Below that was the notation, done in a Harry Potter-esque font: "Universal Studios Grant-a-Dream Trip 2011." On the back was a quote written in the same Harry Potter font: "CF is rough but we are tough."
"Wow!" Evie cried with a laugh. "That's awesome!"
"We are going to be the best-looking tour group in the park!" Cat agreed.
"They'll be able to see us from space," Jade said as she peeled a banana, looking at the shirts. "We'll look like we've escaped from a school… like we should be looking for a short bus."
"Oh, Jade," Cat said, looking distraught.
"We'll look just fine," Evie said, shooting a glare at Jade.
"And if one of us gets lost…" Tori said.
"Do you think they got the puppet one?" Jade asked, sitting down on the couch with her banana.
"It'd be awesome if they did," Evie said.
There was a knock at the door between the girls' room and the Wests' room, and Annie came in, dressed in denim Capri pants and her own red T-shirt. "Good morning, ladies!" she said. "I see you found your shirts. Do you like them?"
"I love them!" Cat said.
"They're great, Mom," Evie said.
"Are you ready for treatment?" Annie asked Evie. "We've got a big day ahead of us."
"I'll do Evie's treatment," Jade said, eating the rest of her banana.
"Oh, Jadey, you don't…"
"I know I don't have to, Mom," Jade said. "That's why I'm offering. I bet you can use the time to pack up all the stuff we're going to have to take with us."
"Well, all right," Annie said, a little hesitantly. "There are quite a few things I can't find…"
"Go ahead, Mom. I'll do the treatment."
"Okay, okay," Annie said. "Let's get ready to leave here in about an hour."
"Sounds good!" Tori said.
The girls ate their breakfast pastries and fruit. Cat and Tori took turns in the bathroom, doing their hair and applying lotion and makeup. Evie flushed her central line and her g-tube, then endured her nebulizers, Vest treatment, and chest percussion. Annie came in and out of their room, packing supplies and medicines into backpacks. She fished in one of the bigger suitcases for suction catheters and sunscreen.
At last all four girls were ready, dressed in their red T-shirts. Evie, with the Grant a Dream button pinned to her shirt, put her ventilator and the suction machine on her wheelchair seat, and wheeled it out into the hallway. The boys were there, waiting, in matching T-shirts, even Rex.
"Looking good," Beck said to Jade, giving her a kiss on her cheek.
"Yeah, yeah," Jade mumbled.
"Who wants to carry a backpack?" Annie asked as she and Kent exited their room. "I've got three."
"I'll take one, dear," Kent said.
"Give me one," Jade said.
"I can take the third one," Beck offered.
"Great," Annie said. "And don't feel like you have to carry those all day. Switch off and on."
She looked at her watch. "There's a bus waiting downstairs for us to take us to Universal Studios. I want to get a picture in front of the hotel before we leave, though."
"Mom," Jade groaned.
"Humor your mother, honey," Kent said as Andre pushed the button for the elevator.
"You look good, Andre," Cat said, bobbing up next to the boy.
"You too," Andre said, smiling at her enthusiasm.
"We're wearing the same shirt!" Cat said happily.
"We sure are," Andre said.
Downstairs Annie stopped the group in front of the fountain, and hailed a passing tourist. "Could you take a picture of us?" she asked.
The man looked at the group, attired in their matching shirts and accompanied by what seemed like a month's worth of supplies, and smiled. "You folks look like you're going to have a wonderful time," he said.
"Crowd together, crowd together," Annie said, herding the boys towards the back. They went obligingly, Robbie propping Rex up on his arm.
Annie and Kent stood at the ends of the group. Evie took a seat in her wheelchair, moving her machinery to one side, grinning broadly.
"Ready?" the tourist asked, holding up the camera. "Say cheese!"
There was an assorted series of utterances that could have been "cheese," and the tourist snapped the picture. "Looking good," he said. "Great picture."
"Thank you," Annie said.
He handed back the camera, and gave Evie another smile. "Keep them all in line, okay?"
"I'll try," Evie said. "But they're a wild bunch."
"They'll listen to you," the man said, still smiling.
Annie stowed the camera in her bag, and led the group down the hallway towards the exit.
In front of the hotel was a mini-bus with the entire Harry Potter cast on the sides.
"Wow," Evie breathed.
The doors opened and a man in Gryffindor robes and a wizard's hat came down the steps. "Good morning, fellow travelers!" he said. "I am Mulciber Capulet and I am your tour guide for the day! I will deliver you safely to Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and make sure your tour of the surrounding areas is as magical as possible!"
"Wow," Jade said.
"If your eyes get any bigger, I think they might pop out of your head," Beck said sotto voce into her neck.
"Oh, bite me," she said, but there was no malice in her voice.
"Please, step aboard my admittedly Muggle transport and we shall be on our way," Mulciber Capulet intoned. "And for the seated among us, I will be only too pleased to lower the lift, although I must admit that it, too, is Muggle."
He stepped aside to let the group get on the bus, and went to the back of the bus, where the lift door was built into the side of the vehicle. He opened the door with a sharp pull on the silvery handle, and then used a control box to bring the wheelchair lift down to ground level. "Allow me," he said to Evie, and carefully wheeled her forward onto the lift.
"Thanks," Evie said.
"It is my pleasure," Mulciber said.
He went through the motions of bringing Evie's chair up into the bus, and strapping it down. "And now I must take up my driver's post," he said, and after closing the lift doors, he hurried around the side of the bus to sling himself into the driver's seat. He started up the bus with a turn of the key, and he turned to face those aboard. "But before we can make our journey to Hogwarts, we must all say the magic words."
"Abracadabra!" Robbie exclaimed.
"Close," Mulciber Capulet said. "In this case I am thinking of a spell that would cause our vehicle here to break its Muggle bonds… to fly, if I may be so bold as to suggest."
"Wingardium leviosa!" Jade said from the back of the bus.
"Ah, yes, I see we have an eager student already," Mulciber Capulet said. "All together, then!"
"Wingardium leviosa!"
And with that, the bus pulled away from the front of the hotel.
"This guy's good," Evie heard her mother say to her father.
"I know," Kent agreed. "And I don't even care that his name is probably Keith and that he probably works at a used-car dealership on the weekends to make ends meet…"
And as the bus headed towards its magical destination, Jade turned back to look at Evie, and found her sister smiling blissfully.
Magical, indeed.